About

"Pretty Much Everywhere, It's Gonna Be Hot" is a YouTube video clip of a Haitian weather report featuring a newscaster named Arthur. The video became most notable for Arthur's puzzling fit of laughter on-air while bantering with the anchors and it has spawned a series of reaction videos in combination with other viral video clips of cheesy one-liners on YouTube.

Origin

The video clip was uploaded by YouTuber KidCorduroy on January 17th, 2008. Aside from the fact that weatherman's first name is "Arthur," the original air date of the news report or the name of news station still remain unknown. The clip shows Arthur explaining that "pretty much everywhere, it's gonna be hot," shortly before he breaks into an uncontrollable fit of laughter.

Arthur: Pretty much everywhere, it's gonna be hot.
News Reporter: Then I won't need a jacket!
Arthur: EH HYEAH HYEAH HYEAH HYEAHHAH
News Reporter: Hehe, thanks Arthur.

YouTuber FlyingPandaSquirrel2 offered a plausible explanation in the comments, which posited that it was a moment of in-joke among the newscasters, who may had been required to wear the uniform jackets during broadcast despite such hot weather. Similar explanations can be seen in a number of duplicate uploads in the comments section. As of June 2012, the original video clip has been viewed more than 5.5 million times.

Spread

The video's view remained relatively dormant until March 28th, 2008, when YouTuber mabefsti uploaded the first response video featuring a mash-up with a segment from one of Dave Chappelle's standup comedy shows:

Numerous other remixes and mash-ups were uploaded via YouTube^[2] on the same day and the video link began to spread across various hubsites, including Metafilter^[3], Poetv^[4], as well as HypeBeast forum^[5], Digg^[6], Bodybuilding Forum^[7], NeoGAF forum^[8] among others throughout 2008. The video's online popularity was eventually picked up by Haitians.TV^[9] in August 2008, though little information is provided regarding the identity of the weatherman.

Many YouTubers used the weather report clip as a reaction video in conjunction with other viral videos, in similar vein to how Keyboard Cat cats are often paired with FAIL videos on YouTube. The clip has been also used as a popular source material in the YouTube Poop community.

Notable Examples

Arthur's Death Hoax

Following the Haitian earthquake disaster in January 2010, a hoaxical Associated Press article^[10] began to circulate on various forums and news sites, reporting that Arthur Dubine the Haitian weatherman has died during the course of disaster. Many R.I.P threads soon surfaced in tribute to the man, but it was quickly revealed that the article was fabricated.

Jan 14, 9:15 PM EST PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) -- Local Weatherman Arthur Dubien, most well know for his bizzare laugh that has caught youtube by sensation, was just one of the many in the rising death count. Arthur, who had been working as a weatherman for over 14 year, puts a familiar and loving face onto the tragedy caused by the recent Haiti Earthquake. Both those who knew him personally, and those who knew him only by his internet fame both agree that Arthur will be missed dearly. Arthur was found underneath the rubble of the studio used to record the dailiy news, which was built to withstand hurricanes, but not earthquakes.

Search Interest

As shown in Google Insights, search interest in the YouTube clip began in early 2008 and rose steadily throughout the year; the keyword "Arthur the weatherman" resurged in January 2010 after fake news reports of his death began to circulate on the web.

External References